


Halloween Story

by Tamasha



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake Blood, First Kiss, Fluff, Gay, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Love, M/M, Modern Era, One Shot, Pining Arthur, Relationship(s), Romance, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 17:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5098748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamasha/pseuds/Tamasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur always sees Merlin at Gwaine's parties, and he really likes him, though he hasn't asked him out yet. This Halloween, he hopes he can impress Merlin, but does not expect his reaction to Arthur's gory costume.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Halloween Story

**Author's Note:**

> Written by Tamara

Halloween was by far the greatest holiday. It was the perfect excuse to be whoever you wanted to be and wear an excessive amount of makeup in the process. Arthur’s favorite part about dressing up was adding a shit ton of red corn starch and as much gore as he could possibly pile onto his costume. Halloween was all about the horror, and he aimed to have the most of it on the holiday. No matter what his costume - police, fireman, princess, ghost, cat, etc. - Arthur was sure to make it as bloody as possible. It was the only way he had ever dressed up for Halloween, and he was definitely going all out this year.

He had really outdone himself this time. Arthur went as an undead business man (possibly just to spite his father, even though he knew Uther wouldn’t even know or care about his Halloween costume). The costume consisted of his old suit and tie, but torn to shreds. He was generous with the makeup, taking advantage of his sister’s skills - though he did have to bribe her to get Morgana to cooperate. He was proud of the work he had put in. Looking in the mirror, he wouldn’t have even recognized himself. It was a brilliant costume. And it would be a brilliant Halloween.

Morgana’s friend, Gwaine, was throwing a party that was supposed to be a big deal. Gwaine was nearly as rich as the Pendragons, but he was much more liberal about spending that money, especially for parties. Arthur had been to a party or two of Gwaine’s in the past, but didn't really see the appeal. They weren't anything particularly special, but they certainly weren't dull either. And Merlin was always there.

Arthur had met Merlin first at Gwaine's Easter party. There was no way that there were any religious intentions when planning this party, but a holiday was a holiday for Gwaine. Merlin was the dork who showed up with plastic eggs and had big fake rabbit ears on his head - even though his natural ears were practically the same size. He had a gorgeous smile and the most captivating blue eyes Arthur had ever seen. It didn’t take much for Arthur to form a crush on this seemingly delightful man.

He seemed delightful, and he was, Arthur later learned that at the St. George's Day party the following month, but Merlin had not allowed Arthur any chocolates the first time they met because Arthur had made fun of the Easter Bunny. It wasn’t until the end of St. George's day that they realized they actually had quite a bit in common and got on fairly well. Arthur loved hearing about how Merlin wanted to be a nurse to save people, and Merlin seemed to be the only one actually interested in Arthur’s rant about the importance of Architecture. They really were quite a pair.

So when Arthur heard that Merlin would be at the Halloween party, Arthur was a bit more excited than he had any right to be. But he couldn’t help it. Merlin was sweet and kind and so unbelievably adorable Arthur couldn’t get him off his mind. They hadn't seen each other since April, so Arthur was really just holding on to sugar-coated memories of the bloke at this point. Arthur and Merlin were friends on Facebook, so they kept in contact, but never really had found the time to hang out. Merlin was busy with school, and Arthur was in the process of building his architecture business, so neither truly did have the time. However, if Arthur was being honest, the reason they still hadn’t hung out was because Arthur was too scared to ask Merlin out. Despite being traditionally awkward and everything dorky in the world, Merlin was actually the most intimidating person Arthur had ever met. Everyone adored Merlin and that, somehow, made him untouchable. So Arthur had kept his conversations with Merlin casual.

When Arthur walked up to Gwaine’s house, he realized two things: one, Gwaine probably loved Halloween as much as Arthur himself did and two, Morgana was right to hype up this party; it was awesome. The decorations alone were probably worth about a month's worth of salary for Arthur. The music was creative and catchy and all relating to Halloween or monsters in some way. The attention to detail was splendid; honestly Arthur couldn’t have planned a better party himself. He was impressed.

After wandering through the house, admiring the decorations, Arthur ran into Gwaine.

"Hey! Arthur, you made it!" Gwaine slurred his words and went limp against Arthur.

This reminded Arthur of the best part about Halloween: the alcohol. "I sure did. Morgana is around here somewhere, I think. We drove separately."

"She's in the living room, actually," Gwaine corrected seriously.

"Thanks. Who else is here?" It was a pretty dumb question, considering how packed the house was. The house was big enough to hold a lot of people, but somehow Gwaine had invited enough to exceed that capacity.

Gwaine shoved a drink in Arthur’s hand - he wasn’t sure where he had got it from - and pushed Arthur towards the living room. "Go play, Arthur. Leon is flirting with your sister, so you can go save her from that. Or you could hit on Merlin again, he's with them. Or Gwen could try to sleep with you, like last time, but I think she is around here somewhere with her new man friend. Just go do something, and drink more!"

Arthur had a lot of protests to most of what Gwaine had just said, but he was pushed along with shockingly strong hands for a person the size of Gwaine.

Stepping into the living room, Arthur first caught sight of Merlin which made his stomach drop like a brick. Merlin was in a purple fairy costume with beautifully detailed face paint that matched his intricate wings. He was in a tight leotard and a... oh, god, a tutu? Yes, it was a tutu, but for whatever reason Merlin was totally pulling it off, and it was sort of working for him in a weirdly attractive kind of way. Arthur found he had taken much more of an interest in Merlin wearing a tutu than he would have expected.

Arthur squared his shoulders and focused on not pining after Merlin (though that was hopeless) and he walked to where Merlin was standing talking to Leon - who was dressed as a bee - about something he cared deeply about. Arthur could tell Merlin was passionate about the conversation because his eyes were fixed on Leon and his hands were flailing all about. Leon seemed as if he were about to burst into laughter, and Morgana just sipped her drink between them, watching both carefully.

Morgana was the first to notice Arthur. She was dressed as a "sexy witch" - whatever the hell that was good for - and wore a pink pointy hat that didn’t seem to fit her style whatsoever. Morgana waved at Arthur, quickly glancing at Merlin before smirking back at Arthur. It was impossible to keep anything from his sister, especially when said sister was Morgana Pendragon. She promised to be a great wingman tonight, and Arthur couldn’t help but privately appreciate her offer, even though he had argued with her about it for nearly 20 minutes, insisting that he didn't like Merlin.

But what was the point in hiding? The blush that warmed Arthur’s face was evident, he was certain, and Morgana knew everything anyway.

"Hello," Arthur said, hating himself a little for being so weirdly formal.

"- so if communism were to actually succeed we wouldn't have the problem of money in the first place." Merlin hadn’t looked away from Leon yet, and Morgana was far too amused by the whole situation.

"You know he's just messing with you, right Merlin?" Morgana said, still locking eyes with Arthur who was drowning in anticipation to talk to Merlin.

"Yeah, but he is still wrong." Merlin crossed his arms - which reminded Arthur more of a pouting child than anything, and that really shouldn't have been attractive...

"Hey, Merlin," Arthur repeated, waving like a loser.

"Oh, hi Ar- ah!" Merlin didn’t finish his sentence because when he turned to face Arthur he dropped his drink in surprise. "Fuck," Merlin breathed, holding his hand over his chest. "What the hell?"

Arthur let out a nervous chuckle. "It's a costume, Merlin."

"Yeah, but it's so terrifying."

Morgana started laughing and Merlin twitched as Arthur moved towards him. "It's... What, really? Are you serious?" Arthur asked, unintentionally coming off as a bit of a prick.

Merlin crossed his arms, eyed Arthur up and down, then shuddered slightly. "Um, yeah, no... I don’t know. I am going to go find Lance and Gwen. I think they are Dorothy and the Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz, so... that's... yup. Bye." Merlin turned on his heels and was gone before Arthur could even think of a response.

"What the hell?" Arthur turned to Morgana, nearly glaring at her as she cackled like the witch she was dressed as.

"Oh my god, Merlin is so scared of you he won't even talk to you! This is brilliant!"

"Did you know?" Arthur demanded.

Morgana kept laughing. "No, but I wish I had! I'd have put you in even more blood," she finally got out between fits of laughter.

"He's not actually scared though, is he?" Arthur queried, scrunching his nose.

Leon stiffened. "Yeah. He is."

"What?"

"He won't even watch Nightmare Before Christmas, mate. He's, well, you know..."

"No, I don’t know." Arthur really wanted to understand.

Morgana had settled down a bit, but then erupted into laughter all over again. "Oh my god. This is fucking amazing."

Arthur groaned. "Shut up, Morgana."

"No way," she protested.

Then Leon let out a small chuckle. "It is pretty funny, mate. You have to admit. I mean, you love Halloween, Merlin only likes dressing up. He hates the scary aspects of it while you love it."

"Yes, I got that, Leon," Arthur sighed.

"Well, I'm just saying, you are going to have a hard time getting into his pants with that on your face."

Arthur's eyes flew wide open. Not only did Leon know about Arthur’s childish man-crush on Merlin, but he also used the phrase "getting in his pants" as if it were no big deal. Leon couldn’t even say the word "crap" without getting embarrassed; he was just that polite.

After sputtering a bit in shock, Morgana slapped a hand to Arthur’s back. "You are so totally fucked."

"Shut up. He can't actually be that scared, can he?"

Leon just looked at him as if he had just stated with confidence that the sky was and had always been green. "You can go ahead and find that out for yourself, mate, if you want."

Arthur took that as a challenge and soon found himself wandering into the other room where Merlin had disappeared to. When Arthur entered the front room, he found Merlin talking to Gwen, who was wearing a ridiculous blue plaid dress and shiny red shoes. This room was a bit more quiet than the living room was, but the music was still fairly loud. Arthur decided to simply walk up to Merlin with assuredness and insist Merlin not run away again. That plan failed as soon as Merlin flinched when Arthur neared.

"Please," he begged, face turned from Arthur, "just leave me alone. I left for a reason."

"Really?" His tone was accusatory rather than inquiring. "Does this honestly make you uncomfortable?"

Merlin nodded, eyes still on Gwen. Gwen put a hand on Merlin’s shoulder sympathetically, and smiled at Arthur. "He's not trying to be rude -"

"Yes I am." Merlin interrupted.

Gwen just continued as if Merlin had said nothing. " - but he really can't be around that sort of gore."

"Yes I can!" Merlin said indignantly. Then he faced Arthur. It was clear he was wildly uncomfortable, but he held his ground. "I just don't want to be around Arthur."

Gwen snorted. "Stop trying to impress him."

"I'm not," Merlin whined, snapping his head to Gwen again.

The thought of Merlin trying to impress Arthur brought a smile to Arthur’s face and a warm feeling to his stomach.

"I'm just -"

It was Gwen’s turn to interrupt Merlin. "... just want to, what was it? 'Kiss his face off'?"

"Gwen!" Merlin shouted, drowning the music for a mere second.

Gwen tried to hide her giggle in her hand, but then it turned into a full on laugh. She was almost as poor of a wingman as Morgana had turned out to be. "It is just makeup, Merlin."

"Yeah, Merlin," Arthur added with a grin, enjoying this way too much. "It's just makeup."

"You both are prats," Merlin huffed, then he pushed his way through the group of people behind him out of the room.

Gwen looked just as guilty as Arthur felt. She smiled softly at him and said, "Nice costume." She shifted uncertainly, hugging her arms around her chest. "I shouldn't have said that about Merlin..."

"It's fine." Arthur waved his hand dismissively. "I encouraged it."

Gwen sighed. "He really does like you, though. Just... well, he doesn't like," she gestured her hand in Arthur’s general direction, "that."

"He likes me?"

Gwen gave Arthur a shockingly similar look to the one Leon had just given him about five minutes ago. "Don't let it go to your head, Pendragon."

Arthur laughed out loud. "Don't be bitter I wouldn't sleep with you, Gwen. I am gay, you know."

Gwen punched his arm playfully. "God, you really are an attractive prat, Merlin is right."

"Thanks?" Arthur said, hesitantly.

"Good luck, Arthur. You two would make a nice couple." And she really seemed to mean it too. Arthur smiled, happy that the two of them could be friends after the awkward first encounter they had had. Right on cue, as if to prove how fine Gwen would be, Lance showed up holding a drink for Gwen.

"Thanks, babe," she said, planting a kiss to Lance's cheek.

"Hey, Arthur!" Lance piped, lighting up his features with that uniquely Lance sort of happiness.

"Hey, Lance. I'll let you two get back to it, I had something I needed to attend to in the loo."

Lance nodded, placing a hand around Gwen’s waist. "See you later, mate."

They really were a cute couple. Arthur felt a pang of jealousy run through him, thinking about how badly he wanted that. And how badly he wanted that with specifically Merlin, surprisingly.

Arthur found his sister as quickly as he could manage without trampling over a few smaller party guests. He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the conspicuous mating display she was performing in front of Leon. "I need your help."

"I'd say," she shot back, as if they had been arguing.

"Seriously, I need to get this makeup off and there is a lot of rubber and weird glue on my face."

Morgana laughed, but when she realized that he was serious her face fell into a frown. "No."

"Why!?" Arthur pleaded.

"I'd spent nearly two hours on that, I'm not just going to undo all that hard work only 30 minutes into the party."

Arthur groaned desperately. "Please, Morgana."

Morgana suddenly looked sympathetic and a bit affectionate. "Oh my god, you really do like him!"

"Um..."

"Normally you'd insist people that are afraid or grossed out by your costumes need to get over it."

"Morgana..."

"But you really, really want to talk to him."

"I don't -"

"Not only that, but you want to get his attention."

It was no use trying to argue with Morgana, especially since he needed her help. "Will you help me or not, blood sucker?"

Morgana smiled. "No when you speak to me like that."

"Fine," Arthur sighed. "Will you help me, high priestess?"

"Better." Morgana smirked. "Let's go."

They left Leon to fend for himself as they found the nearest bathroom and stripped Arthur of his face makeup in about 10 minutes time. It was quite impressive, considering how long it had taken them to put it on. Once rid of what was on his face, Arthur did what he could to clean up his clothes as best as possible. He straightened his tattered tie in the mirror and hoped that it was enough.

They walked out of the toilet together, looking inconspicuous. Morgana patted his arse, sending him off with a wink. It was more than a little uncomfortable, but Arthur felt oddly appreciative of his sister’s help. Arthur was still looking for Merlin when someone burst through the front door, in full Jason costume, with a chainsaw that had the blade taken out. A classic Halloween get up that Arthur would typically enjoy. When he saw Merlin rushing past the spectating crowd and out to the backyard, Arthur found himself much less interested in the horror-filled Halloween hoax.

Walking out onto the terrace, Arthur found Merlin, leaned over the balcony, staring out at the pool. He was still breathing heavily, but he didn’t seem overtly frightened. He just seemed stressed and distracted. He didn’t even notice when Arthur joined him; that, or he had not bothered to acknowledge him.

"Nice night." Arthur leaned over the edge, mimicking Merlin’s stance.

"Mhm," Merlin hummed, still watching the night sky.

"I'm sorry about well... I mean, I never meant to scare you."

"I wasn't scared," Merlin insisted.

"All right."

It was silent for a short moment, then Merlin mumbled, "Thanks."

"For what?"

Merlin suppressed a smile and shook his head. "Nothing."

Arthur bumped his shoulder against Merlin’s. "So how are you going to be a nurse if you can't stand the sight of blood?"

For the first time that night, Merlin looked at Arthur square in the eye. "It wasn’t the blood really... it was. I don’t know. I just don't like that people think dressing up as a person who is badly injured is very nice."

"I," Arthur began, but he didn’t really have a follow-up. He knew he disagreed with Merlin on some level, but he found the reasoning Merlin had come up with to be way more endearing and charming than he could have possibly imagined.

"I know, it's strange... but I just haven't ever liked horror movies or anything, and Halloween is always sort of a problem holiday for me."

"I can see that," Arthur stated, wishing he had not caused such a problem for Merlin in the first place.

Merlin just held his gaze, looking much more relaxed and happy than he had earlier in the evening. "Did you take all that off just so you could talk to me?"

"No," Arthur lied.

Merlin crossed his arms. "And you just so happened to want to come out here at the same time as me?"

"Yes."

Merlin scoffed and turned back to look out at the back yard. Arthur couldn't stand the sight of Merlin looking away from him.

"So am I a bit more bearable to look at now that the makeup is gone?"

Merlin snickered. "Much better. Now I sort of just want to bandage up your wounds and take care of you."

"Take care of me?" Arthur asked, suggestively.

Merlin’s cheeks grew adorably red and he looked away quickly. "Because I am a nurse."

"Right." Arthur could hardly cover up the sass in his tone.

"I hate you."

"I like you," Arthur said, suddenly mustering up whatever courage he had within him. "And I don't care if you are scared of silly Halloween costumes. In fact, it kinda makes me like you even more."

Turning to Arthur, Merlin had a scowl on his face. "Don't be a prat."

"I'm not." Arthur stepped closer to Merlin, taking his hand gingerly. Merlin’s eyes dropped to meet where their hands interlaced. "I really do like you, Merlin. And I want to take you on a date."

"Why?" Merlin asked, much too seriously, dropping Arthur’s hand.

"Really, Merlin?"

There was a short pause before Merlin spoke again. "We can only go on a date if you promise to never wear costumes like that ever again. At least around me."

Arthur grinned, wondering how serious this commitment was. "Deal." But as he shook Merlin’s hand he found he didn’t really care. If that was a sacrifice he had to make to make Merlin more comfortable, he'd do it.

"Good then," Merlin agreed.

Arthur leaned in close, lips centimeters from Merlin’s ear. "For the record, I adore your costume."

Merlin clearly tried to cover up his blush and his smile all in one go, and Arthur fought it by pulling at his hands once again. Before he knew it, Merlin had planted a wet kiss to his cheek.

"Oh, Merlin," Arthur scolded. "You can’t even aim properly." Merlin’s face went from surprised to understanding to happy anticipation all in the second before Arthur kissed him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Natasha and I went to Spirit Halloween store and basically she is Arthur and I am Merlin in regards to Halloween, so an idea for a story arose. Hope you love it! Please leave comments. :)


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